justincase wrote:Road bikes will be the same deal but I'm not prepared to do Aluminium as its a rubbish ride. I only ride steel, carbon or Ti. But as fashion is not for steel and Ti is pricey and also less fashionable, I'm stuck with doing carbon but as one of the other forum members pointed out, it needs to be my own mold to make it exclusive and this is very costly as you need a different mold for every differnet size in the one frame. So if you do 3 different frames, you need 3 x 5 sizes = 15 molds This is big bucks before you even make one frame.

Anyone can already get one of these bike frames, with custom paint from the vendor themselves, or via a middleman like Velobuild.com.

But I'd be happy to pay the same money as I would doing it myself, or getting one of the Azzuri/TBE/Jamis Ultegra Di2 bikes (ie, ~$2000 +/- $200).

Anymore than that and the 2012 Giant TCRs (with Ultegra Di2) which they are running out now for $2999 look very tempting. I don't believe you are going to be able to build a better frame than the Giant TCR, but custom paint is worth something, and having it built rather than having to trawl the internet for the best deals on parts is tempting.

I'd prefer an open mold bike to a newly designed frame. The open mold frames have been around long enough that you can find out which are the good ones and which to avoid.

justincase wrote:Xplora,Thats a very well considered response. And I think you've hit the nail on the head well and truly - This ideas is for a niche market - not for everyone

Yep - and make sure people OUTSIDE that niche don't screw you over.

I guess I'm mainstream... I paid a truckload more for a Trek, through a Trek store, than the alternatives because I wanted support, I wanted warranty, and I wanted to support my local. Everyone has their wants.

Check out Cellbikes.com.au for their fixies custom.... gives you an idea of price point.